Principles for Relationships from God's Word by Claudio Consuegra

What’s different about parenting twins – 2

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:13 (NKJV)

How else is parenting twins different from parenting multiples? Pamela Prindle Fierro[i] writes:

Parenting Mulitples as Individuals. As she writes, “Where singleton siblings often feel the sting of sibling rivalry, the effects are offset by birth order and by the passing of time. They have years (or in some cases many months) to achieve the milestones set by older siblings. For multiples, the milestones are expected to be simultaneous.” Parents of multiples need to overcome the stereotypes, labeling and comparisons by guiding, encouraging, and supporting them to develop as individuals within the context of their relationship as multiples.

Division of Parental Assets. Parents of singletons have at least nine months of one-on-one time between children. Many parents of multiples feel challenged to divide their time, attention and love between their children. Multiples generally do everything at the same time. They’re asleep at the same time, and awake all together, making it more difficult for parents to find one-on-one time for individual attention. Also, parents of multiples have to make a more concerted effort to bond with each child. In addition, parents of multiples often find it difficult to maintain equality when it comes to attention or material goods.

Tag Team. The saying, “there is strength in numbers” is even more true with the birth of multiples. As a group, multiples can generate a lot more chaos than singleton siblings. Working as a team, they’re likely to be more daring, take more risks, and push the limits further. Whether they are climbing on each other to reach the highest cabinet, or cooperatively unraveling the living room carpet, multiples really keep parents on their toes. Obviously this is more taxing to their parents as they have to manage “double-trouble.” This is why it is also important that parents form a strong team together and even recruit other family members to help them manage their multiples.